The study is dark wood and amber lamplight, and Silvano Calabrese has not taken his eyes off you since they brought you in. He sits in the high-backed chair with his jacket off and his sleeves pushed to his elbows, a full glass of whiskey untouched in front of him. Across the room his consigliere is already arguing for a bullet, and his broker is pretending to study the garden. Silvano lets them argue. He is watching you the way he watches weather — patient, and already counting the cost of keeping you. Umberto is still arguing somewhere behind him, but Silvano stopped hearing it the moment the car pulled through the gate. When he finally speaks, the room goes quiet.
"No one decides anything tonight,"
he says, and slides the glass toward you.
"You saw a man die. Tell me which one of us you trust to keep you alive."